Lasagna!

Coming from an Italian family, I grew up eating lasagna. Delicious, messy, meaty lasagna. Of course, when you're married to someone who a) did not grow up in an Italian family, and b) is gluten free, you don't get to eat lasagna very much. When I first asked Evan if he like lasagna, he said he didn't really remember. It had been over ten years since his last lasagna, and he was pretty sure it was Stouffer's.

Then, one lucky Christmas, my aunt gave us some rice lasagna noodles. I bought a casserole dish, and we created Evan's first every homemade lasagna. It turned out perfectly. The mozzarella cheese browned a bit on top, and the inside of the lasagna melted into a delectably gooey mess.

After we got married, we realized how difficult rice lasagna noodles are to come by (and how expensive they are!). Luckily, our very resourceful neighbors mentioned that they had used zucchini slices in place of lasagna noodles. We were very skeptical at first - after all, neither of us very enthusiastic about zucchini. Still, we decided to try it, and we were amazed with the quality of our lasagna! Not only was it incredible the first time around, but it kept excellently in the refrigerator, so we were able to take it with us to work for lunches.

Now, we always use zucchini for our lasagna noodles, and you can really use any lasagna recipe, but I've put mine here, just in case you'd like to try it.

Gluten Free Zucchini Lasagna


Ingredients


2 zucchini, cut into thin, vertical slices (a cheese slicer works well for this)
1 16 oz container ricotta cheese
3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
2 lbs cooked ground beef
Grated parmesean (optional)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
Basil, rosemary, crushed garlic and oregano to taste

Directions


1. Thoroughly mix tomato sauce and tomato paste, heat on the stove and add as much basil, rosemary, garlic, and oregano as desired (you can add other seasonings too, these are the ones we like in our lasagna)
2. Lay zucchini slices down in a 13x9in baking pan. Create a single layer and cover the bottom of the pan.
3. Heat ricotta slightly in the microwave, and mix in a handful of mozzarella (the heat makes it easier to spread the cheese).
4. Spread approximately 1/3 of the sauce on top of the zucchini, along with about half of the meat and ricotta cheese mixture.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 to create another layer. (Be sure to put a final layer of zucchini on the top)
6. Spread the remainder of the sauce on top of the last layer of zucchini, and cover with mozzarella and parmesean.
7. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted and slightly browned around the edges.

Mennonite Cooking

Like many of you gluten free eaters, I am always looking for new gluten free recipes to try. But when my in-laws gave us Keepers at Home Gluten Free Cooking*, I was slightly skeptical about it. I never expected a gluten free cookbook to be compiled by the Amish and Mennonite communities, but after trying some of the bread and cookie recipes, I figured out what a great resource it is! It contains some truly delicious recipes and several different gluten free flour mixes. One of the best resources in the book is the tips on converting just about any baked recipe into a gluten free recipe:

• When substituting rice flour in a cookie recipe, add 1 tsp gelatin to every 3 cups of flour.
• Adding an egg if the recipe already calls for eggs improves texture because rice flour is lower in protein than regular flour.
• Xanthan gum is an important additive!
• For breads add 3/4 tsp. per cup of flour
• For cakes add 1/2 tsp. per cup of flour
• For cookies add 1/4-1/2 tsp. per cup of flour.

I know I am going to have fun experimenting with various recipes that normally call for wheat flour. I think I'll try to improve upon the chocolate chip cookie recipe my neighbor created.

*Keepers at Home Gluten Free Cooking is published by Carlisle Press, located in Sugarcreek, Ohio.

Christmas musings

Working at a retail store, you get to meet all kinds of people - especially during the holiday season. Many are joyful and are excited to share the season of giving with friends and family. Others take it upon themselves to show up their rich friends by giving extravagant gifts they can't afford, while others are so focused on gift-giving that they forget the reason for the season. I often get very frustrated, because I tend to take the stresses of others onto myself - healthy, I know.

Still, during this time of year I always like to take stock of what's really important in my life. I have so many blessings, that it's hard to for me to understand why anyone could hate the holiday season. I have my health, a wonderful family and incredibly faithful friends.

One thing that I love about the holidays is the food! This might be something somewhat superficial to be thankful for, but I absolutely love all the goodies that are cranked out during the Christmas season. My dad in recent years has discovered a love for baking. Two Christmases ago, he cranked out over 200 cookies and probably 10 pounds of peppermint bark. I was in sugar heaven, though I don't believe my hips appreciated this so much. My in-laws always love having people over for dinner, but the holidays are particularly special - there are tons of food, and lots of love around the table.

In order to include Evan in the holiday festivities, my entire family likes to make sure that Evan has food he can eat. My mom made Chex mix this year using only rice and corn Chex. My dad is going to make two turkeys for Christmas Eve dinner - one with regular stuffing and one with gluten free stuffing. My aunt always puts croutons on the side of the salad so that he doesn't have to pick them out.

I guess the reason I love food really, though, is the interesting power it has to bring people together. Haven't you noticed how people are always gathered at the hors d'oeuvres table? At least that's what happens in my family. Eating and talking. Sometimes playing games, sometimes poking fun at each other, but there is always love.

Pie Crust

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. Now, I certainly do not love it because the weather gets colder and the days get shorter. I love the myriad of colors, the way my house gets so cozy and the way a pumpkin spice steamer tastes. What I love most of all, however, is the produce. I have never been one to turn down a slice of apple or pumpkin pie. Or any kind of pie for that matter.

Like me, Evan is a true lover of pie. But, like most people who have to go gluten free, he was worried he may never eat pie again. Luckily, his mom came to the rescue. She thought there must be some way to make a pie gluten free. After much trial and error, they came up with the following pie crust recipe. I hope you enjoy it! It's delicious, simple and much healthier than your average pie crust.

Almond Flour Pie Crust


Ingredients

2 1/4 cups almond flour
5 tbps butter
1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Mix all ingredients together well. Press into a pie plate and fill with your favorite filling! (Note that this recipe DOES NOT work for crusts on top of pies.)

Crohn's and Genetics

Last year, I took a class on human genetic variation. As the final project for the class, we had to write a 10-15 page paper on a topic regarding genetic variation in humans. I decided to focus my paper on Crohn's disease. Because Crohn's is an autoimmune disease, I figured there had to be some kind of genetic connection. If there is a mutation in a gene that codes for a cell receptor on digestive cells, then the body could identify it as foreign and thus attack the cells. 


So, I'd like to share with you my research. This paper is called a "review of the literature." I perused the research of others, compiling and synthesizing it to create a somewhat comprehensive view of the studies that have been done over the years. 


Enjoy this first installment!

It is estimated that 60 to 70 million people are affected by some sort of digestive disease in the United States alone. One to two million of these cases of digestive disease are inflammatory bowel disease, which can be separated into two categories: Crohn’s disease and colitis (Head and Jurenka 2004). Both are defined as a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. Crohn’s disease can occur anywhere in the digestive system, but is typically found in the ileum or colon (Shoenstadt 2004).  Colitis is essentially the same thing, but is only found in the colon. This review will be focusing on Crohn’s disease, which is a complex interplay of environmental and genetic risk factors. While the evidence is inconclusive as to the exact cause of Crohn’s disease, Western style treatments focus on using drugs. However, the literature suggests that changes in diet can treat the disease much more effectively. Therefore, more research needs to be done on diets that are helpful to people with Crohn’s disease.


While Crohn’s disease is less prevalent than colitis (according to National Digestive Disease Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC 2010) statistics in 1998, Crohn’s affected only 359,000 people, whereas colitis affected 619,000) in 2004 it accounted for 1.1 million ambulatory care visits and 141,000 hospitalizations in the US. Furthermore, 1.8 million prescriptions were made in 2004 for the treatment of the disease (NDDIC 2010). Clearly, the disease has resounding effects. It is typically diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 35 and is the result of inflammatory T helper cells that cause lesions in the digestive tract (Cariappa et al. 1998, Forcione et al. 1996).

Many studies have been done on the demographics of people that Crohn’s affects. It is generally thought of as a primarily “white” disease, in that is rarely found in people not of Caucasian descent. Jeshion et al. (1998) found in a study of 337 children with Crohn’s that 92.9% of their subjects were white, 4.4% were black, 1.2% were Hispanic and 1.5% were other, unspecified races. In contrast, Shapira and Tamir (1994) note that in the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden, Crohn’s has been predominant in Jewish patients. Shapira and Tamir’s study examined the prevalence of Crohn’s in the Euro-American, African-Asian and Israeli populations of the Kinnaret sub-district of north Israel. They found that the prevalence of the disease in the European-American born population was twice that of the other two populations. This suggests that susceptibility to the disease correlates more with country of origin rather than just their race. This conclusion supports Ghosh and Rona’s (2003) statement that a Western diet is one of the most prominent risk factors of Crohn’s disease.

          

Almond Torte

Evan and I are a match made in heaven. He loves to bake, and I love to eat the products of his baking. Last Christmas, my parents discovered a recipe for almond torte. Being the wonderful people they are, they made modifications to make this delectable dessert "Evan friendly." From that time on, we make this almond torte when we want a fancy dessert. The best thing about this dessert is that you can top it with almost anything and make it your very own. We like berries, and I like chocolate. Anyway, here is the recipe! I hope you like it.

Ingredients


3/4 cup whole almonds or almond meal
Butter (enough to coat bottom of a 2qt baking dish)
1 tbsp plus 1/2 cup honey
4 large eggs, separated
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt

Directions


1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add almonds and cook 2 minutes. Drain, rinse almonds with cold water, and slip off and discard skins. Pat dry with a kitchen towel and set aside (if using almond meal, you may skip this step).
2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix butter and 1 tbsp honey together and coat inside of a 2qt or 10 inch baking dish.
3) In a blender or a food processor, whirl almonds until finely ground (be careful not grind them into almond butter). If using almond meal you can skip this step.
4) In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks with remaining 1/2 cup honey for several minutes until pale yellow and thick. Gently stir in almond meal or ground almonds and almond extract. Set aside.
4) In a large clean bowl, beat together egg whites and salt until firm and peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whites into yolk-almond mixture to combine thoroughly, then gently fold in remaining whites. Pour batter into prepared dish and bake until set and golden brown on top, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Serve topped with your favorite toppings!

An Advantage of Your Non-Dominant Hand

As I was browsing my iGoogle page, I clicked on the news module and stumbled upon an article which discussed a study done by researchers of the University of Southern California. Apparently, one way to cut down on overeating is to eat with your non-dominant hand. 

The study put participants in a dark movie theatre to watch a series of movie trailers. The participants had easy access to both fresh and stale popcorn. When the researchers compared the amount of popcorn eaten with the non-dominant versus dominant hand, the amount of stale popcorn eaten was 30% lower when the participants used their non-dominant hand. The amount of fresh popcorn eaten didn't change significantly.

The study also looked at whether the environment affected the amount of food eaten. The participants were also placed in a darkened meeting room and watched a slideshow, again with popcorn close at hand. The researchers found that less popcorn of both stale and fresh varieties was eaten in the meeting room than in the theatre.

Now, this really doesn't have much to do with gluten free eating, I just thought it was an interesting idea. After all, even if you are being healthy by eating gluten free, it won't do much for you if you can't control how much gluten free food you put in your mouth.